Gerald Walpin (September 1, 1931 – June 24, 2016) was an American lawyer and author. He served as the Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) from January 2007 until June 2009, when he was removed by

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Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

Personal life

Walpin was born September 1, 1931, in New York City, and graduated from the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

in 1952. He attended

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

, where he was

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edi ...

of the ''

Yale Law Journal ''The Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ) is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School. The journal is one ...

'', graduating

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

in 1955. Walpin was married, and had three children and six grandchildren.

Career

From 1957 to 1960, he served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Judge Advocate General, with a rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. Walpin was an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of Special Prosecutions for the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Southern District of New York for five years, after which he went on to become a senior partner at the New York-based law firm Rosenman & Colin LLP—and then

of counsel Of counsel is the title of an attorney in the legal profession of the United States who often has a relationship with a law firm or an organization but is neither an associate nor partner. Some firms use titles such as "counsel", "special couns ...

at its successor Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP—for a combined total of over 40 years. From 2002 to 2004, Walpin was president of the Federal Bar Council, an association of attorneys who practice in the courts within the Second Circuit. He received the

American Inns of Court American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Professionalism Award in 2003 for outstanding professionalism as an attorney and for mentoring younger lawyers.

Inspector General of CNCS

Appointment by George W. Bush

On August 3, 2006, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

nominated Walpin as Inspector General (IG) of Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), an office in the CNCS charged with conducting independent and object audits, investigations, and inspections of the CNCS and its service programs, which include

AmeriCorps AmeriCorps ( ; officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in ...

Volunteers in Service to America AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to alleviate poverty. President of the United States, President John F. Kennedy originated the idea for VISTA, which was founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, and incorporated ...

(VISTA), and Senior Corps. After he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 9, 2006, Walpin was sworn in on January 8, 2007.

Americorps investigations

After its May 20, 2009 meeting that discussed Walpin's report criticizing the St. HOPE Academy settlement agreement and Walpin's forthcoming report questioning the validity of the largest AmeriCorps program—the Research Foundation of

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

(RFCUNY)

New York City Teaching Fellows The NYC Teaching Fellows is an alternative certification program that focuses on education quality in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip ...

program, the bipartisan CNCS

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unanimously requested that the

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review Walpin's conduct as Inspector General. * * * * * *

Removal and lawsuit

Walpin was suspended with pay on June 11, 2009, by President

, who on the same day advised the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

that he would remove Walpin from office, effective 30 days from then, because Obama no longer had "the fullest confidence in" him as Inspector General. * * * * * * * and on June 16, 2009, the White House submitted a letter with additional information on the reasons Walpin was removed. However Republicans

Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate since 2025, a role he also held from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Re ...

and

Darrell Issa Darrell Edward Issa ( ; born November 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 48th congressional district. He represented the 50th congressional district from 2021 to 2023. A memb ...

have asserted that Walpin's firing was politically motivated due to the fact that Walpin was investigating Kevin Johnson, a friend and supporter of Barack Obama, for sexual assault and other allegations during the time he was fired by Obama. On July 17, 2009, Walpin filed a civil lawsuit in federal court seeking his reinstatement, arguing that his removal violated the 2008 Inspector General Act. On July 20, 2009, Walpin issued a statement saying the primary reason for his lawsuit was to protect future Inspectors General. On October 19, 2009, the chairman of the Integrity Committee of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) notified Walpin that his response to an April 29, 2009 complaint about him by acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown on May 20, 2009, had sufficiently and satisfactorily addressed the matter, and closed the complaint. On June 17, 2010, U.S. District Court Judge Richard W. Roberts dismissed Walpin's suit. * * *

Death

Gerald Walpin died on June 24, 2016, in a hospital after being hit by the driver of a sport utility vehicle in Manhattan while crossing at Lexington Avenue and East 79th Street.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walpin, Gerald 1931 births 2016 deaths City College of New York alumni Pedestrian road incident deaths Road incident deaths in New York City United States Air Force officers Yale Law School alumni 20th-century American lawyers